Ted Kennedy

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy (22 February 1932-25 August 2009) was a US Senator from Massachusetts (D) from 7 November 1962 to 25 August 2009, succeeding Benjamin A. Smith II and preceding Paul G. Kirk.

Biography
Edward Moore Kennedy was born in Boston, Massachusetts on 22 February 1932, the son of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and the brother of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. He studied at Harvard, as well as the International Law School at The Hague and the University of Virginia. During the 1950s, he served on his brothers' campaign staffs and learnt the rules of political organization before being elected in his own right to the US Senate to represent his home state. In 1969, he became the youngest ever Senate Majority Leader. However, in that year his presidential aspirations were effectively destroyed by his involvement in a car accident at Chappaquiddick, in which his passenger, Mary Jo Kopeckne, was drowned, raising serious (and recurrent) questions about his moral values (he reported the incident only the following day). His subsequent challenge to Jimmy Carter, the incumbent President, for the Democratic Party nomination in the 1980 primary elections was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, he remained one of the most influential members of the Senate and a liberal standard-bearer. He championed at various times the cause of the environment, economic sanctions rather than military action, and corporate regulation for American business. He died of a malignant brain tumor in 2009 while still in office.